The present disclosure is related to mobile communication devices and, more particularly, to changing the operational modes of such devices in response to near field communication (NFC) with external entities.
Mobile communication devices, such as cellular phones, laptop computers, pagers, personal communication systems (PCS), personal digital assistants (PDA), and the like, provide advantages of ubiquitous communication without geographic or time constraints, as well as the added security of being able to contact help in the event of an emergency. Device displays allow users to view and interact with a wide variety of applications, such as contact lists, calendar planners, mapping software, etc.
Advances in technology and services have also given rise to a host of additional features beyond merely voice communication including, for example, short or multimedia messaging, multimedia playback, electronic mail, audio-video capturing, interactive gaming, data manipulation, web browsing, and the like. Other enhancements such as location-awareness features, e.g., global position system (GPS) tracking, enable mobile communication devices to monitor their position and display their location.
The structural design of mobile phones provides compactness of size, incorporating powerful processing functionality within smaller and slimmer phones. The convenience and ease of use of these devices, with their extensive capabilities, have led users to carry them virtually everywhere as constant companions. However, the mobile devices are not compatible with, or their use in some respects are not acceptable in, certain environments. For example, various audible alerts that are often generated by mobile phones, e.g., incoming call and message notifications, are not acceptable in meetings or entertainment venues. Audience members are requested to turn off phones yet, through inadvertence or otherwise, phone users often fail to do so. As another example, signal transmission by mobile devices is not permitted during airplane flights.
As different environments require differing restrictions on mobile phone usage, various operation mode profiles have been developed, a default mode generally set for typical operation. A silent operation mode profile may deactivate audible generation while maintaining other functions active. An Office mode profile may include audible generation deactivation while maintaining calendar and mail features operable. An airplane mode operation may deactivate Radio Frequency (RF) transmission while maintaining other functions. A TTY operational mode may enable communication with a text teletype device as used by the deaf and hard of hearing community. A personal hands-free (PHF) mode may enable voice command capability in lieu of key input and may route audio to a PHF accessory as opposed to the microphone and speaker within the mobile device.
Methods for changing among operational modes exist but typically involve navigating through menus that are not always intuitive and making user interface selections that are not always obvious. The difficulty and confusion in changing such operational modes often leads users to avoid mode changes leading to suboptimal phone operation for atypical environments. A need exists to simplify the manner in which a change in mode of operation may be implemented. Where a particular mode of operation is required by the environment in which the mobile device is located, a convenient and intuitive method for transitioning to the required mode would be beneficial.